Greater New Orleans

Oliver Bush Playground renovation under way

The unsettling quiet around the intersection of Caffin and Florida avenues still conjures painful memories of the months after Hurricane Katrina when the sound of children playing was hard to find. More than six years after the flood, city officials Thursday took steps to breathe life into the Lower 9th Ward corner by launching a $2.1 million facelift at the ravaged Oliver Bush playground.

View full sizeRusty Costanza, The Times-PicayuneA groundbreaking ceremony is held Thursday at the Oliver Bush Playground in the Lower 9th Ward.

Work is scheduled to begin this month on the improvements, which will include a baseball field, a basketball pavilion, four tennis courts, a picnic shelter, play equipment, lighting and landscaping.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu said the playground project, which is being paid for with FEMA recovery aid, is part of a $180 million investment the city is making in the hard-hit neighborhood that endures as one of the most recognizable symbols of Katrina’s destruction.

Though recovery remains spotty with single homes occupying some blocks, the lineup of speakers at an afternoon news conference expressed optimism that new recreational facilities will help lure residents.

“We can look back around here and see there’s a lot of families that are not back,” said Robert Green, president of the Historic Lower 9th Ward Neighborhood Association. But rebuilding the park is going to “bring back the families and bring back life into this community.”

The mayor echoed those sentiments as he directed everyone’s attention to the purple, green and gold banners hanging from a lonely brick home in the shadow of the Florida Avenue levee.

The playground, built 30 years ago, was named for Oliver Bush, a community activist and businessman who ran a nearby service station.

FEMA executive Andrea Davis recognized the park’s namesake, noting that he “fought for equality and strong education for all.” Davis said the playground “is not only a new beginning but carries on Oliver Bush’s legacy.”

The new park is one of several Lower 9th Ward recovery projects.

Last summer, the city reopened the pool at Sam Bonart Playground on Forstall Street. Repair work on a concession stand, ball fields and a basketball shelter there is nearing completion.

Construction is set to begin in the spring on a new Sanchez Community Center and a fire station near the corner of Caffin and Claiborne avenues. The area also has been targeted for $45 million in street improvements and a new high school.

Vic Richard, the interim recreation director who was named to the job permanently this week, told Lower 9th Ward residents that their new park comes with responsibilities.

“The story and the message is simple,” Richard said. “After this project is done, you need to take pride in it, you need to own it. And you need to treat it just like it’s your personal home, because it’s yours.